1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and in particular, to a mobile terminal which comprises a hinge stylus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known in the art, “mobile terminals” are electronic devices such as a notebook, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a PCS phone and so on. Such mobile terminals can execute radio communication with counterparts while essentially comprising a data input/output unit, transmitting/receiving unit and an antenna unit. The data input unit generally utilizes a keypad having alpha-numeric keys by which a user can input data, or a touch screen by which a user can input data via touch operation. The data output unit generally utilizes an LCD which displays information generated in the mobile terminal. Furthermore, the transmitting/receiving unit generally utilizes a microphone unit and a speaker unit. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art the operation of the general input/output units and transmitting/receiving units of the mobile terminal.
From among the above mobile terminals, the following description will adopt the touch screen by the way of example. Known touch screens use a touch sensitive panel and a “stylus” for conveniently inputting desired data. The stylus is a device shaped as a pen so that a user touches the touch screen with the stylus to input data.
The stylus is generally attached to a terminal body via a string or mounted to a predetermined position in the body via an additional receiving unit.
However, the stylus is used merely for data input, not for any other functions. Further, it is inconvenient to carry the terminal body in which the stylus is received.
Further, as the internet is currently changing into a multimedia-based atmosphere and various radio services such as internet chatting, internet game and internet mail transmission are provided via terminals, the terminals are required to have more functions. Accordingly, a mobile terminal needs an auxiliary data input unit as the mobile terminals gradually have more functions. However, an input unit in a conventional mobile terminal is insufficient to satisfy these needs. For example, it is inconvenient to input data with a keypad available in the conventional mobile terminals for a conventional data input unit since it has only 15 to 20 keys. In particular, data input operation is awkward in text transmission or game modes.